Information Technologies Group The Center for International Development Harvard University
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- Developing the ICT Workforce
Enhancing Education with ICTsUniversidade Eduardo Mondlane (UEM) is the focus of much of the country’s networking activities. This is the only public university in Mozambique. Smaller private universities have recently been established in Beira and Nampula. Until September 1997, the CIUEM was the only source of low cost Internet access in the country. The CIUEM has been responsible for establishing the university’s LAN which provides e-mail services and Internet access to students and also to members of the community. Its connectivity is based on a 64 Kbps VSAT link with the University of Witwatersrand, via PanamSat to Transtel’s earth station in Johannesburg. A second VSAT has been installed for the University’s distance education training facility with a 384 Kbps link to Washington D.C., USA. The CIUEM is the registry for the .mz domain. The domain registration is a simple procedure whereby a form is filled and a fee of 100$ is paid one time for two years. The Catholic University – a Church university - is the only university north of Maputo. It is located in Beira, capital of Sofala province. This university was founded in 1995 and started its operations in 1996. The university can not depend on the use of Internet as a tool for learning since Beira suffers from many electricity outages. Moreover, it is expensive to use the Internet since the dial-up connection is based on a phone call to Teledata in Beira. Prior to 1998, the University had to make a long distance call to Maputo in order to obtain Internet access. The Catholic University of Mozambique (UCM) is the second largest institution of higher education in Mozambique, with an enrollment of nearly 1,500 students. The university has used Mozambicans with bachelor degrees to teach university undergraduate courses. Furthermore, most instructors teach part time. As the enrollment increases and students move towards completion of their undergraduate degrees, UCM faces the serious difficulty of finding qualified professors who can teach courses at the undergraduate level. Roughly, half of the lecturers at the university are expatriates. In UEM, seven students were awarded bachelor degrees in the faculty of economics and only two the following year in 1996. The University has a consultancy office UCM-Gea.Consult that provides its expertise to local firms based in Sofala, Manica and Tete provinces (a very similar “model” to that of the UEM). Developing the ICT WorkforceWhen the Director of Planning at the Ministry of Education was asked about one of the obstacles to introducing IT in Education, Mr. Virgilio Juvane said “We have a subject called Introduction to Information and Communication Technology but it was not taught (in schools) because of lack of teachers with ICT skills.” According to the ICT policy, among the principal challenges to developing the ICT workforce today are:
The Department of Mathematics, Statistics and Informatics at the UEM is staffed with six members; this is the largest department in the UEM - the only public university in Mozambique. The department runs a five year degree (licenciatura) which is two years plus a bachelor’s degree in informatics. Bachelor degrees in computer science (3 year long) are not offered. This has not stopped students from quitting university after completion of the 3rd year without obtaining the bachelor degree due to high demand for jobs in IT. This has resulted in a low number of official graduates of informatics – around 20-30/year. Many students quit their undergraduate courses to take job offers. Others “consult.” Natividade Bule from netcom is an entrepreneur who provides several services (marketing for microsoft, conference organization, photocopying services) and is also studying law (doing a bachelor of law). At the same time she is consulting with the Ministry of Justice! There are no courses offered in electronic commerce. The department interestingly enough (as the CIEUM) provides consulting services to the private sector. Various computer science degrees and programs are offered at:
Both the latter institutes have “joint venture” programs in information systems with Portuguese universities. The university suffers from a lack of human resources in the area of information systems and therefore uses Portuguese expertise.
However, the three institutes listed above have just started to offer these programs/courses three years ago. There are no graduates as of yet.
(Learn from Muchanga about the “new University of Stockholm graduate program in information and communication studies for students from Mozambique and Tanzania.”) The private sector has a strong skills shortage. IT companies usually train their recruits that have graduated from the UEM. They require an average of six months training before they can start work. Due to the strong influence of socialist and Marxist regime prior to independence and to the fact that many Mozambicans were educated in Russia, and Cuba, there seems to be a strong shortage of marketing skills. According to José Murta, Managing Director of EXI, “there are lots of economists in the country, but we don’t have managers.” There are currently two private companies that are providing IT training – Matrix and Rumo. However, their services are very expensive. Multinational companies such as Microsoft, CISCO and Compaq are operating out of Johannesburg, providing training in South Africa. Many managers are seeking training and skills development through graduate programs in South Africa or Portugal. Companies doing in-service training order customized training services that are delivered by subcontracted trainers. Some of this training is done abroad. However training is very expensive. It either involves bringing in teachers from abroad or sending off trainees abroad – which involves accommodation and travelling expenses. Training the workforce with IT and management skills is seen as national ICT priority from the private and public sectors’ viewpoint. Moreover, the government has a very strict policy about bringing in foreign expertise, arguing that it is protecting local expertise. Countries such as the United Arab Emirates have grown tremendously, partially due to the incredible numbers of foreign workers.23 Directory: itg itg -> Digital and analogue computers Data can either be analogue or digital itg -> Qualifications itg -> Driverless Cars Sofia Pasarin Download 200.65 Kb. Share with your friends:
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